Chapter 1

The Emperor Wears No Clothes=20

By Jack Herer

Overview of the History of =
Cannabis=20
Hemp

For the Purpose of Clarity in this Book:

Explanations or documentations marked with an asterisk (*) are listed =
at the=20
end of the related paragraph(s). For brevity, other sources for facts,=20
anecdotes, histories, studies, etc., are cited in the body of the text. =
Numbered=20
footnotes are at the end of each chapter. Reproductions of selected =
critical=20
source materials are incorporated into the body of the text or included =
in the=20
appendices.

The facts cited herein are generally verifiable in the Encyclopaedia=20
Britannica, which was printed primarily on paper produced with cannabis =
hemp for=20
over 150 years. However, any encyclopedia (no matter how old) or good =
dictionary=20
will do for general verification purposes.

What=E2=80=99s in a =
Name?

(U.S. Geography)

HEMPstead, Long Island; HEMPstead County, Arkansas; HEMPstead, Texas; =
HEMPhill, North Carolina, HEMPfield, Pennsylvania, among others, were =
named=20
after cannabis growing regions, or after family names derived from hemp=20
growing.

American Historical =
Notes

In 1619, America=E2=80=99s first marijuana law was enacted at =
Jamestown Colony,=20
Virginia, =E2=80=9Cordering=E2=80=9D all farmers to =E2=80=9Cmake tryal =
of =E2=80=9C(grow) Indian hempseed. More=20
mandatory (must-grow) hemp cultivation laws were enacted in =
Massachusetts in=20
1631, in Connecticut in 1632 and in the Chesapeake Colonies into the=20
mid-1700s.

Even in England, the much-sought-after prize of full British =
citizenship was=20
bestowed by a decree of the crown on foreigners who would grow cannabis, =
and=20
fines were often levied against those who refused.

Cannabis hemp was legal tender (money) in most of the Americas from =
1631=20
until the early 1800s. Why? To encourage American farmers to grow =
more.1

You could pay your taxes with cannabis hemp throughout America for =
over 200=20
years.2

You could even be jailed in America for not growing cannabis during =
several=20
periods of shortage, e.g., in Virginia between 1763 and 1767.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew cannabis on their =
plantations.=20
Jefferson,3 while envoy to France, went to great expense, and even =
considerable=20
risk to himself and his secret agents, to procure particularly good =
hempseeds=20
smuggled illegally into Turkey from China. The Chinese Mandarins =
(political=20
rulers) so valued their hemp seed that they made its exportation a =
capital=20
offense.

The Chinese character =E2=80=9CMa=E2=80=9D was the earliest name for =
hemp. By the 10th=20
century, A.D., Ma had become the generic term for fibers of all kinds, =
including=20
jute and ramie. By then, the word for hemp had become =
=E2=80=9CTa-ma=E2=80=9D or =E2=80=9CDa-ma=E2=80=9D meaning=20
=E2=80=9Cgreat hemp.=E2=80=9D

The United States Census of 1850 counted 8,327 hemp =
=E2=80=9Cplantations=E2=80=9D* (minimum=20
2,000-acre farms) growing cannabis hemp for cloth, canvas and even the =
cordage=20
used for baling cotton. Most of these plantations were located in the =
South or=20
in the Border States, primarily because of the cheap slave labor =
available prior=20
to 1865 for the labor-intensive hemp industry.

*This figure does not include the tens of thousands of smaller farms =
growing=20
cannabis, nor the hundreds of thousands if not millions of family hemp =
patches=20
in America; nor does it take into account that well into this century =
80% of=20
America=E2=80=99s hemp consumption for 200 years still had to be =
imported from Russia,=20
Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland, etc..

Benjamin Franklin started one of America=E2=80=99s first paper mills =
with cannabis.=20
This allowed America to have a free colonial press without having to beg =
or=20
justify the need for paper and books from England.

In addition, various marijuana and hashish extracts were the first, =
second or=20
third most-prescribed medicines in the United States from 1842 until the =
1890s.=20
Its medicinal use continued legally through the 1930s for humans and =
figured=20
even more prominently in American and world veterinary medicines during =
this=20
time.

Cannabis extract medicines were produced by Eli Lilly, Parke-Davis, =
Tildens,=20
Brothers Smith (Smith Brothers), Squibb and many other American and =
European=20
companies and apothecaries. During all this time there was not one =
reported=20
death from cannabis extract medicines, and virtually no abuse or mental=20
disorders reported, except for first-time or novice-users occasionally =
becoming=20
disoriented or overly introverted.

World Historical =
Notes

=E2=80=9CThe earliest known woven fabric was apparently of hemp, =
which began to be=20
worked in the eighth millennium (8,000-7,000 B.C.).=E2=80=9D (The =
Columbia History of=20
the World, 1981, page 54.)

The body of literature (i.e., archaeology, anthropology, philology, =
economy,=20
history) pertaining to hemp is in general agreement that, at the very =
least:

From more than 1,000 years before the time of Christ until 1883 A.D., =
cannabis hemp, indeed, marijuana was our planet=E2=80=99s largest =
agricultural crop and=20
most important industry, involving thousands of products and =
enterprises;=20
producing the overall majority of Earth=E2=80=99s fiber, fabric, =
lighting oil, paper,=20
incense and medicines. In addition, it was a primary source of essential =
food=20
oil and protein for humans and animals.

According to virtually every anthropologist and university in the =
world,=20
marijuana was also used in most of our religions and cults as one of the =
seven=20
or so most widely used mood-, mind-or pain-altering drugs when taken as=20
psychotropic, psychedelic (mind-manifesting or -expanding) =
sacraments.

Great Wars were Fought to=20
Ensure

the Availability of =
Hemp

For example, the primary reason for the War of 1812 (fought by =
America=20
against Great Britain) was access to Russian cannabis hemp. Russian hemp =
was=20
also the principal reason that Napoleon (our 1812 ally) and his =
=E2=80=9CContinental=20
Systems=E2=80=9D allies invaded Russia in 1812. (See Chapter 11, =
=E2=80=9CThe (Hemp) War of 1812=20
and Napoleon Invades Russia.=E2=80=9D)

In 1942, after the Japanese invasion of the Philippines cut off the =
supply of=20
Manila (Abaca) hemp, the U.S. government distributed 400,000 pounds of =
cannabis=20
seeds to American farmers from Wisconsin to Kentucky, who produced =
42,000 tons=20
of hemp fiber annually until 1946 when the war ended.

Why Has Cannabis Hemp =
Been

so Important in =
History?

Because cannabis hemp is, overall, the strongest, most-durable,=20
longest-lasting natural soft-fiber on the planet. Its leaves and flower =
tops=20
(marijuana) were, depending on the culture, the first, second or third=20
most-important and most-used medicines for two-thirds of the =
world=E2=80=99s people for=20
at least 3,000 years, until the turn of the 20th century.

Botanically, hemp is a member of the most advanced plant family on =
Earth. It=20
is a dioecious (having male, female and sometimes hermaphroditic, male =
and=20
female on same plant), woody, herbaceous annual that uses the sun more=20
efficiently than virtually any other plant on our planet, reaching a =
robust 12=20
to 20 feet or more in one short growing season. It can be grown in =
virtually any=20
climate or soil condition on Earth, even marginal ones.

Hemp is, by far, Earth=E2=80=99s premier, renewable natural resource. =
This is why=20
hemp is so very important.